PNSO - New for 2024

[Joel1905]

It's rather quiet here...

PNSO's output has halved from previous years, they've skipped their traditional Christmas figure announcement and it's been two months since the Lokiceratops.

With Chinese New Year coming up, we might not get another figure dropped until close to Easter. (If there is another figure coming)

Should we be worried about the health and future of the company?

[thomasw100]

It's rather quiet here...

PNSO's output has halved from previous years, they've skipped their traditional Christmas figure announcement and it's been two months since the Lokiceratops.

With Chinese New Year coming up, we might not get another figure dropped until close to Easter. (If there is another figure coming)

Should we be worried about the health and future of the company?

See my comment in the PNSO - 2025 Hopes and Dreams thread about this: https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=11701.msg385692#msg385692

We can be lucky if we see a release in February 2025 right after the Chinese New Year holidays.

In addition to what I wrote in the referenced comment above, I got the information that there are some rearrangements going on in PNSO. Whatever this means.

[Joel1905]

It's rather quiet here...

PNSO's output has halved from previous years, they've skipped their traditional Christmas figure announcement and it's been two months since the Lokiceratops.

With Chinese New Year coming up, we might not get another figure dropped until close to Easter. (If there is another figure coming)

Should we be worried about the health and future of the company?

See my comment in the PNSO - 2025 Hopes and Dreams thread about this: https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=11701.msg385692#msg385692

We can be lucky if we see a release in February 2025 right after the Chinese New Year holidays.

In addition to what I wrote in the referenced comment above, I got the information that there are some rearrangements going on in PNSO. Whatever this means.

What sort of rearrangements?

[thomasw100]

It's rather quiet here...

PNSO's output has halved from previous years, they've skipped their traditional Christmas figure announcement and it's been two months since the Lokiceratops.

With Chinese New Year coming up, we might not get another figure dropped until close to Easter. (If there is another figure coming)

Should we be worried about the health and future of the company?

See my comment in the PNSO - 2025 Hopes and Dreams thread about this: https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=11701.msg385692#msg385692

We can be lucky if we see a release in February 2025 right after the Chinese New Year holidays.

In addition to what I wrote in the referenced comment above, I got the information that there are some rearrangements going on in PNSO. Whatever this means.

What sort of rearrangements?

I do not know any details.

[SidB]

With all due respect for those who love theropods , but have much less use for other dinosaurs, I really do believe that the long, unrelieved string of theropods that we witnessed (a few might say, 'endured') was a bad marketing decision. It should have been interspersed with ornithischians and sauropods to break the tiresome predictability of their offerings during that spell. It gave HLG an opening to deeply penetrate this specialist market and they haven't looked back, IMO.

[Joel1905]

Tbh I'm just accepting the probability that we'll never get another PNSO figure, or at least any on a regular basis.

Expect the worst and at least you'll never be disappointed!

RIP PNSO, it was great while it lasted.

It's just sad how it ended, and it was so quick. Just a sudden (and huge) decline in output and then a total stop.

[Turkeysaurus]

PNSO does bunch of stuff beyond producing figures. Too early to mourn. Maybe they are busy with other stuff or they are changing their  strategy on releases. They had enough for 2024. 

[thomasw100]

Tbh I'm just accepting the probability that we'll never get another PNSO figure, or at least any on a regular basis.

Expect the worst and at least you'll never be disappointed!

RIP PNSO, it was great while it lasted.

It's just sad how it ended, and it was so quick. Just a sudden (and huge) decline in output and then a total stop.

I do not think PNSO will stop releasing figures for good, but they may have to modify their strategy in view of strong competition from Haolonggood and also general economic pressure due to rising costs for materials, energy etc.

What certainly does not help are the statements of the Haolonggood fanboys like that Haolonggood would be as good as PNSO or even better and at the same time cheaper. These statements are unfortunately all over the place and they lack a solid basis.

Regardless of what preference one has when it comes to paint designs and color schemes, even the most die hard Haolonggood fan must acknowledge that the quality of PNSO in terms of scientific accuracy, molding precision, painting precision is just much better than that of Haolonggood. And this comes with higher production costs.

Even for the large Haolonggood sauropods (which I really like) paint defects and molding issues are not uncommon. My original Alamosaurus had so bad paint chipping in a rather large area that I had to file a claim and got a full replacement. You can see small paint defects and molding issues on virtually every Haolonggood figure. I have seen many reports along these lines on this forum and in social media.

We need to acknowledge that yes Haoonggood produces really good figures and they come at a reasonable price, but that at the same time PNSO is in the premium class.

[SenSx]

I agree for Haolonggood molding issues are defects.
I had to fix my Mamenchisaurus head by adding material and repaint it.
I will have to do the same on my Argentinosaurus, to a lesser extent, but still...

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

hmm.. I haven't had to fix anything on an HLG figure..yet. I do acknowledge that their theropods , for me, still leave something to be desired.

[Duna]

I'm not worried about PNSO's pace, they go just like other years and other years we were happy about it. 
But my tastes have changed thanks to HLG. From now on, I'm not interested in sauropods or large species scaled less than 1:35. And not in theropods without lips, either (it has to be a very interesting species to make my change my mind).

PNSO continues making very good figures and so have been my this year's purchases: the nicely scaled Edmontosaurus and the superb lipped Allosaurus Saurophaganax.

[DavidJamesArmsby]

PNSO is likely doing just fine. They do more than just release models, and they've disappeared and reappeared in the dino-model-making space multiple times in the past.
The rise of Haolonggood is also a good thing. More competition in this incredibly niche market is healthy, and much needed.

[Joel1905]

I'm not worried about PNSO's pace, they go just like other years and other years we were happy about it. 
But my tastes have changed thanks to HLG. From now on, I'm not interested in sauropods or large species scaled less than 1:35. And not in theropods without lips, either (it has to be a very interesting species to make my change my mind).

PNSO continues making very good figures and so have been my this year's purchases: the nicely scaled Edmontosaurus and the superb lipped Allosaurus Saurophaganax.

This hasn't been like other years though! Previous years have seen at least 12 figures a year, this year we've only had seven! No Christmas release and even retailers have said there's no figure coming soon.

By the time Chinese New Year celebrations end, it'll have been *four months* since they announced the Lokiceratops, give them a month to resume work and it'll be FIVE months since their last figure. That's a very long time.


There are many worrying signs.

[Carnoking]

Not sure if this speaks to the health or decline of PNSO but while visiting Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison this past week, I saw their gift shop was stuffed full of PNSO models both new and old. I think it was the first time I've ever seen the figures in an actual store and if *cough cough* I didn't have all of them already *cough* I probably would have picked a few out. Perhaps it's a good sign to see them working with gift shops as it gives them another source of revenue and puts the brand on the radar of new and old Dino fans. Regardless, it's cool to spot them in the wild, and in a fossil site gift shop no less.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

its hard to sell something without a license attached and at their price point.  I know it's treasonous but look at a Jurassic World figure vs a similar priced PNSO. Any time I put PNSO on the shelf here I have to talk them up and find the right buyer whereas JP/JW sells itself.

[SRF]

I don't really understand all the panic regarding PNSO's releases. They still have put out more figures in 2024 than Safari (when it comes to dinosaurs), only one figure less than CollectA and the same number as REBOR. If you follow PNSO on social media, they have been active on multiple expos and book fairs.

Unlike Haolonggood, PNSO doesn't solely focus on releasing figures. Meaning that they don't need to put out more figures year on year to grow as a company. PNSO has released 77 unique sculpts in the last five years. Maybe we're spoiled, but I think we need to realise how crazy high that number is. PNSO released some figures at tremendous speed, probably quickly draining their backlog of sculpts to release in figure form.

Of course Haolonggood is surpassing those numbers right now, but PNSO still offers a large assortment of figures through their online stores, largely containing species that Haolonggood doesn't offer. Just give them (PNSO) time to create new sculpts so they can be released as figures again. I'm sure they're working on it alongside the other different projects they are currently running.

[thomasw100]

I don't really understand all the panic regarding PNSO's releases. They still have put out more figures in 2024 than Safari (when it comes to dinosaurs), only one figure less than CollectA and the same number as REBOR. If you follow PNSO on social media, they have been active on multiple expos and book fairs.

Unlike Haolonggood, PNSO doesn't solely focus on releasing figures. Meaning that they don't need to put out more figures year on year to grow as a company. PNSO has released 77 unique sculpts in the last five years. Maybe we're spoiled, but I think we need to realise how crazy high that number is. PNSO released some figures at tremendous speed, probably quickly draining their backlog of sculpts to release in figure form.

Of course Haolonggood is surpassing those numbers right now, but PNSO still offers a large assortment of figures through their online stores, largely containing species that Haolonggood doesn't offer. Just give them (PNSO) time to create new sculpts so they can be released as figures again. I'm sure they're working on it alongside the other different projects they are currently running.

It is not so much the number of figures that feels unusual, but rather the fact that they have slowed so much down during the second half of the year and that they have not released their usual outstanding end of year figure. Plus they have not been posting anything on their YouTube channel for over a month now. They have been posting their daily paleoart painting on Instagram and Facebook though.

Maybe they are indeed going through a stage of review of their activities and strategy and will get back to us in February or March with something exciting. Or they may consider to change their release schedule to something like a batch of figures two times a year rather than releasing a figure whenever it is ready.

[SidB]

One great advantage (to us) of the slower release schedule is that we as collectors will not become satiated by an ongoing glut of figures from them. I think that there will be an increase in the appreciation of what they have accomplished to date. We're far less likely to be spoiled. Myself, I've gone back and had five of my PNSO theropods given lips. In  time, others may be given alterations, upgrades by the two paleo-artists whose services I employ. That's only possible for me, psychologically, because of a requisite "pause". So, I'm all for this slowdown and, like others, I just hope and trust that it's just that and not an impending extinction of the company.

[SRF]

One great advantage (to us) of the slower release schedule is that we as collectors will not become satiated by an ongoing glut of figures from them. I think that there will be an increase in the appreciation of what they have accomplished to date. We're far less likely to be spoiled. Myself, I've gone back and had five of my PNSO theropods given lips. In  time, others may be given alterations, upgrades by the two paleo-artists whose services I employ. That's only possible for me, psychologically, because of a requisite "pause". So, I'm all for this slowdown and, like others, I just hope and trust that it's just that and not an impending extinction of the company.

I myself restrained from purchasing all the figures I would like to own, because there was always that feeling that PNSO could release something in short time that I would like even more. Now I finally have the feeling that I can purchase some of the figures of this year, last year and even 2022 without that feeling.

[Joliezac]

I only just got my first PNSO figures this year. (Saurophanagax, Deinocheirus, Therizinosaurus, Lufengosaurus, Lokiceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Suchomimus). There are so many more I want (pretty much all the recent Carcharodontids, Gorgosaurus, and some others).

If they are slowing down I might actually be able to catch up on some of these since they range in price from $39-$59. I also have been getting Haolonggood models recently. My wallet needs a break.